What do government ministers say when asked about the crooked dealings of millionaire mates in office?  Like the tax scandal entangling former “tax minister” Nadhim Zahawi?

    In fact, they dismiss it as a “diversion” - which it is, but not in the sense they mean it!  Their corruption, double-dealing, lies and concealment of assets, are only to be expected.  After all, they are merely the rotten representatives of a rotting capitalist system.

    So when asked about Zahawi’s attempted tax evasion, Tory spokespersons said they’d much rather talk about their “growth strategy” and how they’re going to “control inflation”.

    Forget the worst social crisis in 45 years!  Forget the fact that “Rome is burning” all around their ears!  Forget the worst poverty crisis which has given rise to the biggest strike wave over pay, in 45 years!

    As far as they’re concerned, all this boils down to, is a need to “control inflation”.  So they refuse to increase workers’ pay, thus defying economic reality, which for once has exposed today’s inflation to be due to unprecedented price rises due to demand outstripping supply, post-pandemic!

    And never mind either, that it was Sunak’s policy to encourage energy companies’ incredible 100-300% price hikes which helped drive this inflation!  He chose to incur huge Treasury debt to subsidise consumers, and thus the greedy giants’ profits, instead of controlling their price rises!

    Official bodies are claiming today that inflation has now “peaked” and that it will come down by the end of the year, to 4%-5%...  So ministers/bosses are jumping on this to justify offering just 4% or 5% pay rises.

    But of course the RPI, CPI, CPIH, just measure the rise in inflation compared to the previous year.  So if inflation was 14% last year, and prices rise another 5% this year, workers would need 19% more pay to keep up - and that’s only for 2022-23!

    To shake such pay rises out of the pockets of the Treasury and the wealthy crooks behind it, strikers have no choice but to turn today’s patchwork strikes into one big general all-out strike, on the basis of “one for all and all for one”!  It’s the only way to change the balance of forces in our favour, going forward...